The Land and the People in History

Abstract

It is the geographical situation more than any other factor which has ensured Afghanistan’s continuing importance in Asian history, for it lies across the Asian land routes like a mountainous crossroads — picturesquely described as a ‘roundabout of the Ancient World’ (Arnold Toynbee). Neither the land nor its peoples can be understood without reference to the three great Asian regions against each of which Afghanistan has its borders; related to each and yet distinct — central, south and west Asia; that is, the vast steppelands of central Asia, the subcontinent of India and the Middle East.